“Please don’t say that. It’s exactly what I didn’t want to happen. I’ll run him out of the NFL. I’ll come clean. About everything.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t need to be involved in a scandal like that. Besides, your father knows a lot of people. He’s a powerful man. It could get dismissed as false allegations and nonsense. He could make you look like a fool.”
“Or they’ll take me seriously and there’ll be an investigation.”
“Do you want that? I’m sure Danny Lang doesn’t want his name dragged through the mud again.” Robert shook his head. “Just leave it alone. I’ll put in to be traded. Any team will be happy to have me. I’ll probably get a huge raise too.”
“Noooo!”She clutched his arm with both hands, devastated that he wanted to trade teams. She couldn’t be responsible for upsetting another player’s career, especially Robert’s. “You’re a New Jersey Buck. I’m so sorry, Robert,” she sobbed. “You must hate me. I don’t blame you one bit. I never should have gotten involved with you. I knew from the very beginning that something like this would happen. But I fell in love with you. I’m so sorry.”
He smiled, which would have seemed out of place for anyone other than him. “You’re sorry that you fell in love with me?”
She returned a small smile. “Of course not. I’m sorry I brought this nightmare to your doorstep. I’m sorry my family is such a mess. I’m sorry I’m not the person you thought I was.”
“You’re exactly who I thought you were. A strong, determined woman. What makes you think you’re any different than you were before I found out that Coach is your father? Football isn’t the most important thing in my life, Amber. You are.”
She squeezed him in a tight embrace and never wanted to let go. Everything about this man made her happy and eased her burdens. It’s often said that girls fall in love with men just like their fathers, but that statement couldn’t be more untrue in her case. Robert was the complete opposite of her father, and she loved him all the more because of it. “I love you so much.”
“I love you too.”
The doorbell rang three times in succession, followed by a pounding on the front door. “Amber, open up! I need to talk to you! Right now!”
Robert’s face turned beet red, and his eyes blazed at the sound of Amber’s father’s voice. Before she had a chance to respond, Robert flung the door open.
“You son of a bitch!” Robert took a swing, but Amber’s father ducked under Robert’s arm and stepped into the apartment with surprising agility. Robert quickly spun around, tackled him and slammed him against the wall with a loud thud. It sounded as if the building shook, and the cats bolted toward the back of the apartment.
“Oh my God!” Amber shouted. “Stop it!”
“Calm the fuck down, Blade!” Her dad successfully shook himself free.
Robert stared at him, nostrils flaring and huffing out breaths like an enraged bull. “You’re a fucking piece of shit! Pushing steroids? You should be banned from the NFL!”
Amber’s dad quickly shut the front door. Thankfully, no one seemed to have witnessed the altercation, but the people who lived on either side of her probably thought a truck hit the building with the way Robert slammed her father into the wall.
“I never pushed steroids,” her father said, as if it were absurd. “What’s wrong with you, Blade? Don’t you know me at all? I despise the use of steroids and have zero tolerance for drug use.”
“Don’t fucking lie. Amber told me everything.”
“Well, she’s fucking wrong. That’s why I’m here. To set the record straight and have a conversation that should have happened years ago.” He turned to Amber. “Why didn’t you talk to me? Confront me? I wasn’t the one pushing steroids. It was Lang.”
She huffed and shook her head, done with re-hashing the same thing over and over again. “Stop blaming him for everything. You had a drawer full of steroids and supplies locked in your desk. I took it. Didn’t you wonder what happened to it?”
“I thought your mother took it. She was always snooping around my office. The woman swore I was having an affair. I wasn’t,” he clarified. “I never expected you to be the one who broke into my desk. Why would you do that?”
“Because I wanted to see what happened to Danny. He was gone in an instant. No goodbye. Nothing. Just gone. I thought maybe you were blackmailing him. What I found was much worse.”
“I just told you. He was the one selling steroids.”
“He never did drugs. You planted that on him.”
“I did no such thing!” Her father stood taller, outraged. “How dare you accuse me of something like that?”
He was so adamant, so sincere, that a flicker of doubt crossed her mind, and her cheeks flushed red hot. Could she have possibly been wrong and hung onto her perception of what she thought happened for all these years without question? Had her teenage heart been broken so badly that she distorted what really happened? Had she twisted the truth because she’d been blinded by a first love and couldn’t believe he was using steroids and left her so easily? Could she have been that naïve?
“I got rid of Lang the second I found out you two were dating,” her father stated. “I admit, that was harsh. But you have to understand, Amber. You were 16. He was 25. He’s lucky I didn’t break his fucking neck! There would have been a scandal, and I didn’t need my name or the Bucks dragged through a lawsuit. It was our first shot at the Super Bowl.”
“What about me?” Tears brimmed on her lower lids again because all he ever talked about was how things affected the team. For once in her life—just once—she wanted to come first. “I was only a teenager. Why didn’t you think about my heart?”
He sighed. “I’m sorry your heart got broken. You were young. And dramatic.” He rolled his eyes. “Still are, obviously. But you were also strong and smart. And you’re stronger and smarter now, so you should realize that he was a jerk. A predator. I knew you’d get over Lang. He was bad news. And it was only a matter of time before you found that out for yourself. What 25-year-old gets involved with a junior in high school? I don’t expect you to understand because you’re not a parent.” He sighed, and he suddenly looked old.
